I know when I hear something in the middle of the night in my bathroom I start shooting after shouting a warning. And my wife always locks the door to the bathroom when she gets up at night. And I always use a bat to smash a lock just before finding a key. And if I yell at an intruder my wife occasionaly says nothing to identify herself.

I was wrong. His defense seems air tight.

In an infinite universe, the one thing sentient life cannot afford to have is a sense of proportion

You'd think someone would know whether or not someone was still in bed with them or not, before they went on a hunting expedition.

I suppose the steriods, darkness, early morning confusion, no glasses would make extending your arm over in bed to verify your loved one was still by your side a non-issue?????

Sadder and sadder still.

Exactly. Something I think we all can agree on.

In his own words 16.12 "I knew I had to protect Reeva and myself."

If you are acutely aware of violent crime in your neighborhood do you think it is a great idea to leave your doors, blinds and curtains wide open so you need to get up in the middle of the night to go close them?

Also, wouldn't the first reaction of someone who really wanted to protect thier lover be to check to make sure that they are okay? He states that he had to go to the bed to retrieve his gun, so he was right there.

When I lived in a relatively high crime urban area, my first precaution at bed time, was to confirm that doors and windows were locked. I didn't live in fear, it was just a sensible precaution. And I had never been targeted by burglars or death threats.

But Pistorius does live fearfully, even though he resides inside a gated and guarded community. He is so fearful that he keeps weapons lying around in his bedroom. But he leaves windows open at night with ladders lying in the yard.

So Pistorius is up out of bed and wandering around in the middle of the night on his stumps with limited mobility, likely making some noise.

He hears a noise from inside the bathroom. His assumption is that a burglar has broken into the guarded community, taken a ladder left behind by a contractor and climbed through an open bathroom window where the burglar is now hiding behind the toilet door. He does not think it worth checking that he might have disturbed his girlfriend who got up to use the toilet and is not lying 20 feet away in bed.

Just to be safe, he shoots four times through a locked door.

The process is the goal.

Men heap together the mistakes of their lives, and create a monster they call Destiny.

When I lived in a relatively high crime urban area, my first precaution at bed time, was to confirm that doors and windows were locked. I didn't live in fear, it was just a sensible precaution. And I had never been targeted by burglars or death threats.

But Pistorius does live fearfully, even though he resides inside a gated and guarded community. He is so fearful that he keeps weapons lying around in his bedroom. But he leaves windows open at night with ladders lying in the yard.

So Pistorius is up out of bed and wandering around in the middle of the night on his stumps with limited mobility, likely making some noise.

He hears a noise from inside the bathroom. His assumption is that a burglar has broken into the guarded community, taken a ladder left behind by a contractor and climbed through an open bathroom window where the burglar is now hiding behind the toilet door. He does not think it worth checking that he might have disturbed his girlfriend who got up to use the toilet and is not lying 20 feet away in bed.

Just to be safe, he shoots four times through a locked door.

That is an impressive summation, counselor.

(Assuming, of course, that you'd have used a different word for "stumps" in front of a real jury).

I've been confused beyond belief during a home invasion at 10:45pm. Beyond belief!

I didn't know who anybody was nor did I know where anybody was or why it was happening. I walked throughout the house like a zombie with a broken in front door, no vision (I'm blind w/o corrective lenses), alarm blazing, and alarm company calling.

I don't take medication and I don't drink alcohol. Yet, I was thoroughly disoriented, dangerous, and I put myself in harms way. Unlike any other time in my life, I was lost (except for the time I was awaken by golf ball sized hail when I thought it was a flippen tornado, but that's another fricken bad story of waking up disoriented, and I'll save you the details from that episode).

Fortunately, the intruder left the house through the front door while I strolled outside the front door to see why my front door opened. At the time, I think I thought I forgot to close it. I couldn't give any description to the police.

I'm about as conservative as people would know (2nd ammendment, libertarian, etc), but this explanation as described by OP is my worst nightmare (whether it's as he described or not).

And that is why I do not have weapons anywhere near my bed anymore.

And don't dare call my home or cell after I close my eyes at 9:00pm!

Seriously, what I read from his story could easily have been me if I wasn't zombie like and if I took a defense mode within the 1st few seconds of waking up.

Apples to oranges, that is different technology. And yes, I am an LED fan. Incandescents suck today compared to years past, they are all manufactured in China, there is not a brand left that is quality. LEDs don't work everywhere.

"If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does. There's your pep talk for today. Go Run." -- Slo_Hand

The EasyBake LED oven is a big disappointment, even though energy bills are low.

Exactly why LED 'bulb's won't be replacing halogen or incandescent in any but the lowest power applications anytime soon. Halogen/incandescent bulbs generate light and heat which is dissipated into the room being lit (ala the easybake oven). Heat dissipation takes care of itself. LED bulbs do generate heat but it isn't radiated out into the space being illuminated - it is radiated behind the bulb into the lighting fixture. If there is no way of dissipating that heat there will be problems. Fixtures and even power distribution will have to be re-invented before your home is converted to the panacea of LED lighting. In other words you won't be safely putting LED bulbs into your existing recessed lighting fixtures and, therefore, the LED bulb ain't far better than anything we've had before .... yet.